Do-it-yourself sauna stove made of bricks. How to build a brick sauna stove

Since ancient times, a brick stove in a bathhouse was especially popular in Rus', which could not be found in one’s own home only in exceptional cases. Over the past few years, baths have literally experienced an incredible rebirth.

First of all, this, of course, is influenced by the fact that more and more people are refusing to live in apartment buildings and are increasingly making a choice in favor of individual construction. That is why the question of how to build a stove for a bathhouse is becoming more and more popular every year.

If you can competently plan the construction process, then you will be able to build your own bathhouse in a short time without any problems, and add a special atmosphere of cheerfulness and health to your home.

Preparation process

All you need to build a sauna on your own site is literally minimal construction skills and a little patience. The first thing to start with is to choose the drawings of the stove for the bath of your dreams.

In most cases, the stove in the steam room is positioned in such a way that one part of the building is responsible for maintaining the level of heat in the dressing room, and the other is responsible for heating the steam room itself.

If we talk about the material that should be chosen for the building at the very beginning, then, in principle, most builders agree that it is possible to use those leftover materials that were not used during the main construction.

The construction process will go much faster if all the necessary tools are prepared in advance.

It is best to have trowels on the right side of the stove, as well as a level, a bucket in which there will be mortar and a hammer.

To the left of the stove, as a rule, there is a bucket of clean water and definitely another bucket with a dustpan, as well as pliers and an ordinary pencil, which will definitely be needed when making various marks.

A pit will definitely be needed for the stove. Particular attention should be paid to its size, namely its depth, which should be at least 0.7 m.

The bottom of the pit, according to the rules, should be covered with about twenty centimeters of sand. After this, the sand is covered from above with crushed stone and broken bricks.

Next, it is necessary to provide a reinforced frame with formwork in the pit. From above, the entire surface must be filled with concrete. Look at the photo of the sauna stove and you will see that usually no more than twenty centimeters are left.

The last two layers of the foundation act as the main waterproofing material. After the foundation is completely ready, it must be checked for horizontalness.

If any shortcomings appear, they can be quite simply eliminated using the flaws that have arisen. After the work has been completed, you can gradually move on to the construction of the bathhouse itself.

The importance of the chimney duct

When installing a chimney, it is very important to pay special attention to the general parameters of the structure. If the homemade metal sauna stove turns out to be quite small, then you shouldn’t make the pipe too massive.

In practice, the approximate thickness of the walls is about half a brick. It is desirable that the cross-section of the smoke passages be the same size.

Final stage

It is very important, after installation is completed, but before use, to dry the sauna stove properly. It is customary to use one of the following methods for these purposes:

Note!

Forced;
Natural.

The most preferable, according to the builders, is the second option, but you have to prepare in advance for additional time costs.

Using this method, you can be sure that the oven will dry out as evenly as possible and not a single crack will form.

Remember that if you follow all the advice given to you by the builders, then without any difficulties you will be able to build a bathhouse quickly enough exclusively on your own.

Just remember to make sure in advance that you are prepared for the necessary financial costs.

Photo of a sauna stove with your own hands

Note!

It is difficult to imagine a Russian bathhouse, which has millions of fans in our country and abroad, without a stove. It is responsible for the heat inside the building. The better the stove is made, the more heat it will produce, heating the air in the room. You can put a metal or brick stove in the bathhouse. The first one is difficult to do on your own. Such heaters are sold in specialized stores and cost from 2 to 10 thousand rubles (for servicing premises up to 30 square meters). Brick is considered more durable (lasts from 20 to 50 years) compared to metal (service life is about 10 years). In addition, it is quite possible to make it yourself. How to make a brick sauna stove? There are schemes already developed by specialists, strictly observing which you can put together a structure that meets all requirements and safety standards.

To build a heater, 2 types of bricks are used:

fireproof;
full-bodied.

Fireproof is also called hardened. They prevent the structure from collapsing due to constant exposure to open fire.

One piece costs about 50-60 rubles.

Solid has no cavities or pores inside.

Costs from 30 to 50 rubles per piece.

It makes no sense to build the entire structure from fireproof material. You can save money and place it in places where it comes into contact with open fire.

One refractory brick for a sauna stove costs about 50 rubles. laying out the entire structure like this is too expensive, place it only in places of contact with open fire

For the remaining parts, solid red building material is used. It must meet the requirements of GOST. Each product has a marking. To create a brick sauna stove with your own hands, you need material marked M-150. The letter is the name (ceramic brick), the number is the maximum load in kilograms per square meter.

Important: experienced stove makers advise checking the quality of building materials by sound. Tap the solid piece with a hammer. If it responds loudly and resoundingly, buy it. The sound is dull and “hoarse” - such a brick is not worth taking. Most likely, it was produced in violation of technological requirements.

To learn how to choose the right brick, watch the video instructions:

To make a brick stove for a sauna structure with your own hands, you need building material with dimensions of 250 × 120 × 70 millimeters. There should be no major defects such as chips, cracks, or cavities.

Do you want to know for sure whether the building material you have chosen is suitable for building a sauna stove with your own hands? Buy the product in one copy and break it. Look inside. If the color and structure are uniform and do not cause any complaints, purchase the batch without fear. The main guideline is quality. The bricks must be smooth and beautiful so that they are pleasant to look at.

A solid brick for laying a bathhouse with your own hands must be perfectly smooth, without cracks or chips. Then the oven will be hot and the bathhouse will be warm

We build a stove unit with our own hands: prepare the mortar for masonry

Choosing building materials is half the battle. The second, no less important, part is preparing the solution. You can make it yourself or buy it at a hardware store.

A bag weighing 25 kilograms with dry mixture will cost about 500 rubles. The best products are considered to be from the following companies: “Weber”, “Quick-Mix”, “Rauf”.

If you have red clay, prepare the solution yourself:

take the clay and fill it with water in a ratio of 10: 1;
leave for a day;
then mix well;
if the mixture resembles sour cream, everything is in order, if it is too liquid, add clay, if it is thick, add water;
add about 1 liter of fine river sand. It is necessary so that the mortar tightly holds the bricks together. It is better not to start work without sand in the solution. The masonry will fall apart after the first test fire.

It is necessary to lay the solution in a thin layer of about 5 millimeters, then it will stay tightly in place.

The layer of mortar when laying the stove should not exceed 5 millimeters. Then the bricks will lie evenly and fit tightly together without gaps.

The water for preparing the mixture must be clean and transparent, without impurities. The same goes for clay and sand. Before use, the water must be filtered, the clay must be ground through a sieve, and the sand must be sifted.

How much solution should I prepare? You should proceed from an approximate calculation of 20 liters per 100 pieces of brick blocks.

Important: do not prepare the solution for the entire stove in a brick bath with your own hands at once. It's better to do this in portions. Then the mixture will not deteriorate, will lie flat, and will securely hold the bricks together.

You can learn about preparing the solution from the video:

Stove for a bath: we make it with our own hands. Drawings and diagrams

The building materials have been selected, the mortar has been prepared - but it’s still too early to start laying the stove in the bathhouse yourself. You need to decide on the design. This is where drawings and diagrams come in handy. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and design the unit yourself, especially if you are not a pro in this matter. You can use already verified drawings and diagrams. We have presented the most popular ones below:

This is what a neat diagram of laying a brick stove for a bathhouse with your own hands looks like. If you follow it in a clear sequence, the bath will turn out warm

In general, all diagrams and drawings are similar to each other. In order for the structure to be safe, it is important to follow all stages of its phased construction. The do-it-yourself sauna stove laying scheme includes 25 rows. This is enough for the normal functioning of the heater within the room. Drawings of brick stoves for baths reflect the dimensions of the heater for comfortable use.

Strengthening the base and performing masonry

The stove is a fairly heavy structure, weighing about 100 kilograms. If it is placed on the floor of the bathhouse (sometimes it is even placed on the ground - for this, a hole is made in the floor and a foundation is poured for the stove), then the floorboards require strengthening. For this purpose, metal concrete slabs or at least sheets of iron are used.

The heater for a bathhouse is similar to the one, but does not have a sleeping place and the functions of a stove for cooking.

Structurally it consists of the following elements:

chamber for firebox and ash;
heater (place where stones lie);
iron water tank;
chimney base.

The laying is carried out as follows:

lay the first row of bricks along the perimeter of the future structure;
in the second row there is room for a door;
at this stage, install the frame for the door and secure it with wire;
the third row is erected under a place for the door;
in the fourth row they place a grate - this is a grate through which air will penetrate;
in the fifth - they make a chamber for the firebox;
in the sixth, the door for the combustion chamber is strengthened;
the seventh and eighth rows are placed taking into account the door;
ninth - closes the doorway;
in the tenth they provide space for water tanks;
the eleventh–nineteenth rows increase the height of the stove;
From rows 20 to 25 we lay bricks to form a smoke path and block the stove.

Brick oven: advantages, varieties

A brick stove has superior performance characteristics to a metal one. The advantages of brick structures include the following:

"comfortable warmth" This everyday term has a completely logical justification. Scientists have found that when metal is heated, infrared rays are released. They can burn the skin and burn oxygen. Bricks emit another type of thermal energy, which is considered safe for skin and oxygen;
brick maintains temperature for a long time (up to 24 hours), and metal cools quickly (within 2-3 hours);
brick does not require additional protection to ensure fire safety. With metal it's a completely different story.

The price of a do-it-yourself brick sauna stove can reach up to 20 thousand rubles (it all depends on the cost of building materials in your region).

A do-it-yourself brick sauna stove will cost an order of magnitude more than a metal one, which you can buy in a store. but it keeps warm longer

This is more expensive and more costly than buying metal products in a store. Why then do many owners prefer brick units? Such a stove warms up the room for a long time (from 5 to 12 hours depending on the size of the bathhouse), but reliably retains heat. An important factor is durability. It’s not for nothing that they say that a brick stove in a bathhouse is built once and for a lifetime.

The type of bathhouse will depend on how the heating unit is built:

black sauna;
“grey” bathhouse;
“white bath”;
"slab" bathhouse.

“In Black” is a greeting from the past. In ancient Rus', all baths were arranged in this way, because a chimney was too expensive. Soot, smoke and soot from the stove remained indoors. To prevent people from getting burned by carbon dioxide, the building was equipped with windows that were opened during washing. To enter the bathhouse, it was ventilated until all the smoke came out of it. Today such designs are used extremely rarely.

The “gray” bathhouse surpasses the first type in terms of performance characteristics. Has a small chimney. Stones are placed inside the stove to retain heat longer. Soot remains on the stones. You can use the sauna when the firewood is completely burned. This option is not popular among bath lovers.

“Slab” is the following design: cast iron slabs are placed on top of the bricks, stones and metal tanks with water are placed on them, which is used during bath procedures. Stones and tanks retain heat for a long time. The construction of a slab building is complicated by cast iron tiles. They are not easy to get, and they also add significant weight to the structure. Do you need extra load on the foundation? This type is used extremely rarely.

The “white bath” is the most common option. The stove in it resembles a Russian home stove. It is equipped with a long chimney. Smoke and soot do not settle on the walls of the room. You can go inside even if the wood inside has not yet completely burned out. Poisoning by combustion products is excluded.

A do-it-yourself sauna stove “in white” eliminates the appearance of soot and burning on the walls of the room, the smoke comes out completely using a pipe

Finally

Laying a stove for a bathhouse is not a quick process. Haste in this matter will only get in the way. Construction must be started with dedication and a reserve of at least 3-4 days. Take care of your own safety - wear protective gloves and overalls when working. It is advisable to wear a helmet to prevent a loose brick from accidentally falling on your head.

When deciding which brick for the stove is the best, opt for refractory and solid red. Do not forget to prepare the solution according to all the above rules. no construction is needed, this option is suitable for home use.

To find out which brick is best to build a stove from and how to do it correctly, watch the following video:

The article will tell you about the advantages, disadvantages and types of brick stoves for baths, and introduce you to the types of foundations and chimneys.

The features of choosing materials are described in detail, it is shown what preparation for building a bathhouse involves, and how to make a good and simple stove that will serve you for many years.

Benefits brick ovens are:

Durability and aesthetic appearance
Fire safety
Environmental friendliness.

Disadvantages brick kiln are:

Longer burning time
Larger footprint
The need to build a foundation.

Types of brick kilns

Sauna stoves They differ in the method of heating water, mode of use, design of the heater closed or open, heating features, type of fuel.

In Russia now the most common heater stoves, they are also called wood-burning stoves, which exclude contact of wood combustion products with the interior of the bathhouse.

Also common Kuznetsov furnaces, which contain two hoods in one oven. The cap is a brick vault, either closed or open, with holes for smoke to escape.

Sauna stove project

You need to start preparing for construction with a choice furnace project. In this case, two circumstances cannot be avoided: the choice of the type of foundation and the type of chimney.

There are ready-made blueprints ovens, you should study them during preparation. They can be both simple and more complex. For novice stove makers, we recommend starting with laying the simplest, small stoves.

Foundation for a sauna stove

Stoves weighing up to 750 kg do not require a capital foundation.

Its role will be played by a sheet of asbestos, covered with a sheet of soft roofing iron and laid on a clay mortar. The dimensions of such a base are selected larger than the dimensions of the future furnace for 25 cm from each side.

For the heaviest furnaces it is necessary.

Unacceptable bandage (connect) foundations of the bathhouse and stove, since the pressure of a massive brick stove on one point of the base of the bathhouse will lead to uneven settlement and create an additional risk of destruction of both structures.

If the bath is installed on slab foundation, then a separate oven base is not needed. When choosing the depth of the furnace foundation, you should focus on the depth of the bathhouse foundation.

Chimney for sauna stove

There are different ones classifications:

Depending on the material: brick and metal
By method installations: internal and external.

The place where the chimney pipe exits the roof is needed isolate heat-resistant materials and protect the chimney from moisture with a visor.

Advice! A good choice is a chimney sandwich. It is easy to install and protected from condensation.

It is almost impossible to find the desired stove design in finished form. Ordering is expensive. To save money, you can choose a suitable project and to correct its order.

Detailed ordering scheme- this is an accurate description of the place of each brick in the masonry. It is recommended to show the corrected project to specialists.

Tools for building a sauna stove

For comfortable work you need tool two categories:

worker;
measuring.

Tools:

Bayonet shovel
Container for preparing masonry mortar. It is better if it is wide with low sides
Shovel
Hammer and hacksaw for the production of formwork
Special construction or durable household sieves with cells 1×1 and 2×2 mm for sifting clay, sand and cement
Trowel (trowel) for distributing the mortar throughout the masonry and removing excess mortar from it
Hammer-pick, used for the purpose of dividing a whole brick into smaller pieces and trimming them
Joining, which seals masonry joints and gives them the desired shape
Scouring. It is a rubber plate with a handle. The tool is used to clean the internal surfaces of masonry from excess mortar and seal hard-to-reach seams
Grinder saw. It is useful for precise cutting and fitting of bricks.

Required measuring tools:

Bubble level
Plumb
Hydraulic level
Square
Rule
Roulette.

Materials for the construction of a sauna stove

For the construction of a rubble concrete foundation required:

cement and sand for preparing a solution
filler(coarse gravel, crushed stone, broken bricks and other construction waste)
lumber for formwork
waterproofing products(bitumen, special mastic)

Materials for stove masonry:

red (fireproof) brick for laying a stove and chimney;
natural stone as a heat accumulator;
fireclay (refractory) brick for lining the firebox;
clay and sand for preparing a solution;
furnace casting(doors, stove valves, grate);
asbestos cord for sealing joints between casting and masonry;
wire for fastening castings;
waterproofing material (roofing felt), for insulating the first row of masonry;
cast iron stove 18 mm thick;
water container.

Required for the oven bricks of two different types: for laying the outer part of the furnace and the firebox. You should also decide on the size of the oven.

They can be quite large and mini ovens. The amount of bricks and other materials and the costs of these materials depend on the size of the oven. A small oven will require much less materials.

Selection of bricks for walls and fireboxes

What kind of brick to line the stove with?

Most of the furnace mass is laid out from ordinary clay (red) brick. Sand-lime or hollow bricks are not suitable.

If you plan to cladding around the stove with ceramic tiles or plastering, you can use brick of the brand M 150. It's not perfect in appearance, but it's affordable.

Most often used for plastering White color. Popular names include whitewashing the stove, or “white stove.” If the stove is left without finishing, you need to use bricks of type M 200 and higher.

High quality red brick size 25 × 12 × 6.5 cm has no cracks. It has even angles, and mass - 3.2 – 3.5 kg. When tapped with a hammer, the brick produces an almost metallic sound, clear and sonorous.

Attention! The characteristics of a brick are most stable in one batch, so you need to buy all the bricks at the same time, without relying on subsequent purchases.

For the lining (protective internal lining) of the firebox, use fireclay bricks of the following brands: SHA, SHAK, SHB, SHUS similar to them. It is resistant to heat and has good thermal conductivity.

Purchasing bricks from a manufacturer will eliminate the risk of purchasing low-quality material.

Selecting a water container

A good choice - stainless steel container. The disadvantage of such a tank is its high price.

An essential characteristic of a bathhouse container is its location. Based on location, water tanks are divided into the following categories:

Remote. They can be installed anywhere in the bathhouse. Water is heated as it moves in a coil built into the stove, which is connected to the container with copper or brass pipes
Built-in. Such tanks are built into the furnace structure and are heated by direct contact with the flame. Their capacity is limited by the size of the oven
Pipe. They are attached to the chimney pipe, providing a high rate of water heating.

To calculate the tank capacity, use the norm 10 liters per person.

Main stages of construction of a sauna stove

Construction of a foundation made of rubble concrete

For laying the base of a sauna stove, the strength of the clay mixture is not enough. A regular mortar based on cement and sand will do. Most common rubble concrete foundation.

Stages of work:

Digging a pit depth 1 – 1.2 m and dimensions exceeding the dimensions of the furnace by 15 – 20 cm
Compact the soil with a suitable piece of timber or logs. Suitable timber size 100×100 mm
Laying crushed stone and compacting it to a thick layer 15 cm
Installation of formwork. Waterproofing of its internal surface is required
Rubble laying 20 – 30 cm. Maximum size of individual rubble stones – no more 15 cm
Filling small fractions with crushed stone voids between the stones
concrete mortar. Concrete must fill all the voids, for which its consistency is chosen to be similar to sour cream. This stage is repeated the required number of times until the desired foundation height
Laying the last layer of stones. Ensuring the level height is at the mark 6 – 7 cm to finished floor
Control horizontal surface
Drying of film-covered concrete for 15 – 30 days
Dismantling formwork
Isolation of side foundation surfaces from water. You can isolate the foundation from water at the stage of its construction by adding special additives to the solution
Filling the space between the foundation and the edges of the pit with sand. There must be a gap of at least 5 cm. It needs to be filled with sand.

How to lay a stove correctly

The furnace is laid in accordance with what was developed at the project stage order.

Before laying bricks on the mortar, they should be laid out dry according to plan. Starting from one of the corners, you should select bricks so that the width of the gaps between them does not exceed 5 mm.

After completing the dry laying, you need to accurately determine the location of the roof for plumbing the chimney. This will eliminate problems during the manufacture of the chimney.

The laying of each row must be completed checking for verticality and horizontality. Even minimal deviations need to be corrected.

If you fold the stove with gaps and deviations, the efficiency of heating and ventilation can significantly decline.

Preparation of mortar for laying the outer part of the furnace and fireclay bricks

Cement mortar is not suitable for stove masonry - it quickly dries out and falls out. The basis of the mortar for laying the furnace is clay.

To prepare the solution, fill the clay with water, stirring 2 – 3 times a day, leave on 2 – 3 days. The clay slurry is then ground through sieves to remove small debris.

Sifted sand is added to this clay solution. The proportions of clay and sand in a good solution are unknown. They are determined empirically. The method for selecting the best proportions is as follows.

Sand and clay in equal proportions mixed into the solution. The resulting composition is divided into several parts. One part remains unchanged, sand is added to all subsequent parts in increasing proportions.

From the resulting portions of the solution, cakes are made, which are allowed to dry.

A minimum of cracks and no deformation of the cake piece indicate the best characteristics of the solution.

To lay fireclay bricks, you need special mixtures, the basis of which is fireclay clay. The heat from burning wood causes the mixture to sinter with the brick, increasing the strength of the structure. You don’t need much of this composition, so it’s easiest to buy.

Masonry of furnace walls

Before laying bricks you need moisten. Then apply the required amount of solution.

The brick fits tightly into place. Brick-extruded mortar deleted.

There is no need to plaster the internal surfaces with clay; excess mortar is unacceptable here. Once dry, it peels off and clogs the chimney duct.

Furnace casting is installed directly during masonry and fixed with wire. To ensure that the doors fit tightly to the masonry, they are wrapped around the perimeter asbestos cord.

The cord will seal the contact points and will not allow the cast iron door, which expands when heated, to destroy the masonry.

Installation of the ash door and grate

On the first row of masonry there is blower door, therefore its lower fastening elements are embedded under the first brick row.

After securing the door, rows are laid sequentially until the top of the door overlaps. Bricks interfering with the ceiling need to be trimmed. There must be a gap between the casting and the brick 10 mm.

Installation grates carried out in accordance with the project, strictly horizontally. The grate should not rest against the masonry. This will lead to gradual destruction of the masonry and grate.

Installation of the tank and oven door

The tank at the points of contact with the masonry should be tightly wrapped with a double layer asbestos cord. Fastening the combustion door is similar to fastening the blower door.

The masonry continues to the level of mounting the heating surface (metal plate). The dimensions of the slab should be such that it fits on the brick with a margin of about 25 mm.

Before laying the next rows, the slab must be removed. After the stove bed is completely installed, it is placed in the oven and can no longer be removed.

Important! It is mandatory to control the gaps between the brickwork and the slab. They must be 10 mm or more.

Stones that serve as a heat accumulator can be placed directly on the heating surface, but it is better to use a special one for them. thick-walled pallet.

Construction of a chimney

In case of refusal to install the finished chimney, its laying continues in accordance with the order.

Clay mixture for laying the chimney doesn't fit. Under the influence of condensation formed in the upper part of the chimney, the clay becomes limp and cracks.

In these cases, lime paste (a mixture of water and quicklime in the ratio 3:1 ).

To prepare the solution, use 1 part cement, 2 parts lime paste, 10 parts sand.

The dough is diluted with water until viscosity. Then a sand-cement mixture is added to it. The resulting mass is mixed. The required consistency is selected by adding water.

If you choose a ready-made chimney design, its installation is carried out according to the attached manual. When installing a chimney, it is necessary to exclude gaps or cracks which may allow smoke to pass through.

Careless assembly will lead to damage to the interior of the bathhouse, increasing the risk fire or poisoning. At the point of contact between the pipe and the roof, reliable insulation from precipitation is needed.

Equipping a smoke exhaust for a bathhouse with a smoke valve (damper) will allow you to regulate the draft, achieving better heating. In chimney designs that include horizontal sections, the horizontal lines should not be made longer 1 meter: soot will impair traction.

You can watch how to properly make a brick stove for a bathhouse with your own hands in this video.

Although metal sauna stoves were invented many years ago, most people still prefer traditional brick ones. This choice is due to the fact that it is the “living” material that is able to create the most comfortable level of heat for a person and the optimal amount of steam, as well as give the room a cozy atmosphere.

Peculiarities

The main advantage of brick stoves for baths is a certain steam generation technology, which is achieved thanks to the unique properties of brick. A person in the room breathes easily, feels “soft” warmth and enveloping steam, rich but not scalding. When the metal is heated, infrared radiation appears, burning oxygen in the steam room and burning the skin. It is not surprising that heaters made of brick are preferred by people who care about their health and choose comfort.

Brick construction comes in a variety of sizes and designs., which means it can fit into any bathhouse that demonstrates the individuality of the owner. As a rule, stoves are built with a base of 3.5 by 4 bricks (89 by 102 centimeters), or 4 by 5 bricks (102 by 129 centimeters). The height without pipe can be 168 or 210 centimeters. The most popular is the model with a tank for heating water.

Advantages and disadvantages

When giving preference to brick kilns, you must remember that they have both certain advantages and disadvantages. Among the advantages are the following:

attractive appearance and the ability to fit into any interior of a bathhouse: both made of wood and brick;
such a stove will please the owner much longer than an iron one: unlike metal, brick is a material that will not be spoiled by small defects;
there is no need to carry out additional finishing work;
the resulting steam has a beneficial effect on human health;
a heated brick will not begin to release hazardous chemicals into the air;

a brick stove better maintains high temperature throughout the entire bathhouse;
for kindling, fuel is used, which is sold on any construction market, as well as simple raw materials that you don’t even have to buy: sticks, branches, newspapers, dry moss and others;
In a room with a periodic heater, you can steam for 2-3 days, and it will not cool down;
if after bath procedures you simply do not close the door in the steam room, then the stove will dry the bath itself;
the chimney does not require monthly cleaning, unlike a metal firebox.

However, there are some disadvantages:

the stove structure itself is quite large, you will either need to initially build a large bathhouse, or you will have to sacrifice some square meters;
if errors are made during the assembly process, the oven will not hold the temperature well, and the room will quickly cool down;
brick is a rather expensive material;
the services of a professional stove maker are also highly expensive;

due to the large weight of the stove, a solid foundation will be required, the depth of which should be below the freezing point of the soil, and also the foundation for the stove should not be tied to the foundation for the structure of the sauna house itself;
building a heater is a long-term and labor-intensive task;
To completely melt a sauna with a brick stove, it will take a lot of time, up to 6 hours.

Kinds

There are 4 main variations of sauna stoves:

"in white";
"in black";
"in gray";
with a stove.

Stoves that burn “black” do not have a chimney, and have been used for many decades in villages across the country. All fumes and smoke escape through the steam room itself - naturally through the cracks and gaps of the roof. Of course, this creates the best steam and aroma in them, and it becomes very pleasant to wash, but at the same time you have to wait until all the wood burns out. When choosing black stoves, it is recommended to treat the internal walls of the bathhouse with a special solution that can prevent the formation of soot residues. Black baths have a very high efficiency, and therefore, when using them, you can save on fuel.

Next in complexity are stoves that are heated “gray-style.” They have a chimney, and therefore the bathhouse warms up much faster. However, you still have to wait until all the fuel burns, as soot is deposited on the stones. The walls are not stained with soot, but when liquid is applied to the stones, a small amount of soot microparticles appears along with the steam from the furnace. This design can be direct-flow or with channels. In the first case, the stones placed above the firebox end up on fire, and the gases escape into the air through a pipe, and in the second, through two valves.

White stoves heat the room for up to 12 hours, but do not pollute stones, therefore they are considered the most environmentally friendly. The process occurs as follows: the fuel heats the overlying metal plate, and from it the stones, which will store heat for several hours. This heating method appears to be the most expensive - a large amount of firewood and other materials are consumed. Previously, the box in which the stones were placed was made of ordinary black iron, but now it is made of heat-resistant stainless steel. Traditionally, in white baths there are two separate spaces: a dressing room and the steam room itself. To warm both rooms, one side of the stove opens into the dressing room.

In the fourth case - with a stove - the stones and a tank of water, the placement of which can be changed, are heated by two cast-iron stoves. One of them is placed above the firebox, and the second - above the chimney. The slabs should be fenced on three sides with a brick screen, which will ensure high water temperatures. Such furnaces are usually built independently.

According to the type of fuel used, furnaces are distinguished:

wood;
heated by coal;
natural gas;
diesel fuel;
wood chip briquettes;
electricity.

Based on the type of construction, they are divided into furnaces:

with an open heater (typical for a Finnish sauna);
with closed heater;
combined.

In the first case, the heater is called flow-through, and the stove itself is called periodic. In the second case, the heater is direct-flow, and the stove is continuous.

Batch stoves are usually chosen by large families, when many people go to wash, but the duration of the steaming process is short. They have thick walls that retain heat for a long time and provide the necessary service life of the bathhouse. The smoke passes through the stones before entering the chimney. The volume of stone backfill in such a heater is much larger than in continuous heaters.

Continuous sauna stoves have minimal wall thickness and the volume of stones located in an insulated metal box above the firebox. Their main advantage is the ability to use the steam room during the heating process. Stoves with a closed heater are also safer. Heating is carried out inside the housing through the wall, which is common to the heater and firebox. The stones retain heat much longer, and the air in the steam room has a stable optimal temperature. It will take about 4-5 hours to warm up the air in such a bath.

Separately, it is worth highlighting such a variety as a stone stove-fireplace for a bath. This design has an attractive design, but has low efficiency. If you install a fireproof glass valve, you can protect yourself from flames and enjoy relaxing in a warm room. This is why fireplaces are often installed in dressing rooms. Modern technologies make it possible to design mini-heaters. This design quickly warms the bathhouse, but even after the fuel has completely burned, the room remains heated. Its length and width are usually 2 bricks.

Design and style

There are various ways to design brick kilns.

Using plaster, you can create relief patterns, or simply create a neat, smooth surface. Paint or decorative plaster is applied over the plaster.
Painting is the simplest option. In this case, you will only need to paint the stove with 1-2 layers of very resistant paint.
If you need some creative and effective solution, then you should turn to lining the furnace portal with tiles or stones in a sequential or chaotic order. In the case where the fireplace is planned to be closed, a glass lining is selected, and the brick itself will serve as decoration. In general, the stove can be lined with natural stone, majolica, unglazed terracotta, clinker tiles and porcelain stoneware.

When thinking about the color for the stove, it is recommended to base it on the interior design. For example, the loft style involves artificially aged hand-molded brick. For a classic interior in calm, light colors, light yellow brick is usually used. Thanks to modern materials, it is possible to paint the stove in any light.

If you want to decorate a log bathhouse in Russian rustic style, then it is best to assemble the stove yourself. Usually it is tiled or simply plastered and painted white. It is also necessary to take care of the substrate, which can be glass-magnesite sheets or plasterboard.

Masonry schemes

If you have never built a heater before, then it is recommended not to start drawing up the drawing yourself, but to find a ready-made plan and use it. Currently, various masonry schemes are used, the most complex of which are chosen by professionals, and the simpler ones by amateurs. In both cases, the result is satisfactory and the oven operates efficiently. In addition to traditional masonry methods, the order of Kuznetsov’s bell-shaped sauna stoves is also distinguished. This design takes up significantly less space.

Initially, the oven is laid out dry in order to draw up an order plan. It must be remembered that standard schemes are not suitable for all rooms, so for each bath they need to be created individually, making the necessary changes to the existing ones. Once you have a clear understanding of how each row is performed, it's time to begin the main assembly.

The ordering always starts from the foundation of the furnace, the so-called zero row. At this level, the installation is continuous, but a half-window is usually left on the side to create additional draft and clean the chimney shaft. At the next level, dressing is carried out - this means that the row is shifted by 30-50% to make the structure stable. If you need halves or quarters of bricks, it is recommended to use a grinder with a diamond blade. It must be remembered that such elements cannot be located in chimneys, the shafts of which are always assembled from solid brick, but only inside the structure.

At the third level, a damper usually appears, and the installation of the ash door begins. The fourth row indicates the appearance of the soot sampling door. At the sixth stage, as a rule, the shaft is divided into two parts using a jumper, one of which will become the slab shaft. On the twelfth row, one of the shafts will be laid, and one main one will remain. Usually at the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth stage the masonry of the main structure ends, and then the masonry of the chimney begins.

Drawings and projects

The design of a sauna heater differs from traditional designs: it has a special space for heating stones, which allows you to heat the steam room at high speed. There are two main designs of such a stove: grate and grateless.

In a grate stove, the firewood is placed on a small grate or grate. This device also serves as the bottom of the firebox, and primary combustion air is supplied through it. Through the holes in the grate, the ash goes down, thus creating space for a new portion of fuel. The best material for this element of stove fittings is cast iron, as it is more stable than steel. Such stoves have high efficiency, high combustion intensity, and are very easy to maintain.

There are solid grates, which cannot be disassembled, and stacked grates, consisting of several parts. In the first case, when purchasing a part, you need to focus on the available area of the firebox, and in the second, you can assemble an element of the required size yourself. Steel grates are produced by chain or pipe. Steel ones come in slab, basket, beam and movable types.

A grateless oven is also called a hearth oven. The firewood is placed on a sub-solid floor, on which there is also the possibility of cooking and baking, and air is supplied through the firebox door. In such furnaces, “top combustion of fuel” occurs, when the front spreads from the upper layers of the fill to the lower ones as combustion occurs, which is considered a more environmentally friendly method. For such stoves, exclusively wood materials are used: firewood and briquettes.

Some craftsmen assemble stoves by eye, since they believe that both the assembly of a brick stove and the lining of an iron stove are so simple that preliminary calculations are not needed for them. However, it is better to make preliminary calculations. Both the thermal regime and the amount of steam in the room depend on the correct design. Otherwise, it may happen that the air will heat up very quickly, but the stones will remain cold.

The parameters are calculated based on the dimensions of the room: length, height and width. The power of the furnace is also calculated depending on the volume of the steam room: for each cubic meter, 1 kilowatt of energy is required.

How to do it yourself?

To build a standard stove yourself, the first thing you need to do is select a suitable brick. The material must be very durable, able to withstand high temperatures and have fire-resistant properties. The best option is considered to be a pale yellow brick based on refractory fireclay clay. It is worth considering that it is an expensive material, so when building a homemade stove it is supplemented with solid red brick. For example, for fragments exposed to the most intense heating, fireclay bricks are used, and to line the outer walls, smoke ducts and decorative elements, red hollow grade M with numbers from 75 to 150 is used.

When choosing a brick, you should adhere to a few simple rules:

When you hit a high-quality brick with a pick or hammer, a clear and clear sound will be heard;
The brick must meet standard parameters: 250 by 120 by 65 millimeters;
High-quality material has no obvious damage or defects, with the exception of thread-like cracks and grooves;
If the brick has a “mica-like” film, this indicates a defect.

To build a brick oven, you will need knowledge of block laying and adherence to a uniform order. The first step is to install a waterproofing layer in the reinforced concrete base in order to cool the foundation. At the same stage, an oven for storing equipment is formed. Then the preparation of clay and sand begins to connect the elements, because cement is not suitable in this situation. The clay is first thoroughly cleaned of stones and impurities and soaked for several days. It is recommended to take samples obtained at a depth of 150 centimeters below the surface of the earth. Quarry or river sand is carefully sifted for pebbles or pieces of pebbles. After this, the clay must be stirred, diluted with clean water without a musty smell and combined with sand prepared in the same way.

When using clay with high fat content, it is recommended to dilute it with sand in proportions of 1: 2. To check whether the mixture is correct, you need to use a wooden stick. It is dipped into the solution, and if the resulting layer is 2 millimeters thick, then you can start working. Experts also recommend giving preference to the clay underlying the selected brick, that is, either red or fireclay.

At the next stage it will be necessary to lay out the brick blocks. As a rule, this will require a straightener, a square, pliers, a broom and dustpan, and an emery wheel. Each brick is first placed in water to ensure that all air bubbles are expelled from the pores and that dehydration of the mortar is prevented. It is not recommended to immerse fireclay bricks in liquid for a long time; a few seconds are enough to remove dust. Laying starts from the corner. The first row is laid on a dry foundation, without applying a sand-clay mixture.

At some point, a water tank is also installed, plates, and, if necessary, a grate, as well as securing the doors. Regardless of the masonry method, the key parts remain the same: a firebox made of refractory bricks, a chimney, a water tank and an ash pit consisting of a cast-iron plate, firebox and oven. Drying the sauna stove takes 4-5 days with the windows open in the room. After this period, you can start heating it with small wood chips once a day, for a maximum of 10-15 minutes. While condensate continues to appear on the surface, the furnace is not yet ready for full operation. If desired, after this you can carry out finishing finishing, for example, tiling it with tiles.

When constructing a stone oven, you need to take into account the following rules:

You should leave at least 50 centimeters between the stove cover and flammable structures;
between the brick chimney and the wooden parts of the bathhouse there should be more than 1 decimeter;
a gap will appear between the smoke duct and the roof, which must be covered with a metal plate, for example, made of galvanized steel;
the floor in front of the base of the furnace is also covered with a metal plate about 10 millimeters thick; it will prevent sparks and coal from hitting the flammable surface;
the weight of the stove together with the pipe, but without a foundation, should not exceed 750 kilograms;
before laying, all bricks are carefully sorted, products of the same thickness are selected to obtain even seams - the best samples are used for smoke ducts and fireboxes;
It is recommended to build the stove near the wall opposite the shelves in the steam room.

Beautiful examples in the interior

Decorative, spectacular finishing options for beautiful and stylish stoves.

A massive stove-heater covering the entire wall will become a bright accent of the steam room. It can be decorated with tile inserts, finished with stone and original brickwork. The rest of the interior details, including basins with ladles, are made of light wood. Brooms are an organic accessory.

If you want to decorate a bathhouse in a high-tech style, you need to use a laconic small heater, possibly a mini one, and shiny metal sheets in the interior. The latter can also act as protection for wooden walls.

The correct choice of stones will not only improve the quality of steam, but also decorate the interior. Experts recommend giving preference to river pebbles, basalt, and porphyrite, which are not afraid of high temperatures.

A barrel-shaped bathhouse with an open heater looks very original. In such a room, wooden walls are protected by metal plates.

The firebox of a massive stove can be located in the next room - the dressing room. The large size and red brick ensure a rustic style.

A neat compact stove can be decorated with a carved metal bucket with stones. The decorative element will also correspond to the wall protection, designed to look like stone.

A stove is something without which it is impossible to imagine a bathhouse. Today, the choice of types of stoves is varied: wood-burning, gas and electric. They can be made of steel, cast iron and brick. Brick stoves are reliable and fireproof structures that provide high-quality heating for the steam room. They are the best source of dry steam, so procedures in a sauna with a brick oven become especially useful.

Making it is not an easy task that requires certain knowledge and experience.

The first and important stage in the construction of a stove is drawing up a design for a brick stove for a bathhouse.

Do-it-yourself brick stoves for a bath: projects and their features

The size of the oven depends on the area of the room itself. It is equally important to decide on a budget; a brick bathhouse is not cheap. It is unlikely that you can do a complex project yourself; a simple budget option is easier to implement.

On the Internet you can find many different designs for brick stoves for a bath, but it is important to be careful: even the smallest mistake in the project can lead to dire consequences. If you decide to make even the slightest change to the drawing, be sure to consult a professional. Any mistake can cause a fire.

When designing, you must also take into account the following nuances:

if the heater is located above the firebox, then the height of the firebox should be more than 55 cm (8-9 rows of bricks). Reducing it will cause the temperature to decrease and the amount of soot to increase;
a gap of at least 30 cm must be left between the stove and the walls. If the walls are covered with special protection, the distance can be reduced to 15-20 cm;
the firebox in the heater, the blower doors must be made large to ensure good air flow.

The stove design is not just a drawing of the stove; you also need to prepare the order of the sauna stove, which indicates the order of laying out the bricks of each row. Despite the variety of drawings, many of them have common features:

the blower door is usually installed when constructing the third row;
ash well and air duct grille - when installing the fourth;
installation of the blower door is completed on the sixth;
the firebox door and grate are mounted on the seventh;
channels - on the fourteenth.

Depending on the design features, sauna stoves can be either grate-free or grate-type.

Grateless stoves are easier to maintain and have lower fuel consumption. But only well-dried firewood is suitable for them.

Grate furnaces have a separate blower in which a powerful flame is formed. Thanks to it, the room quickly warms up to the required temperature. Freshly harvested and damp firewood is suitable for such a firebox.

Designs of brick sauna stoves may include a water tank; there are also designs without it. It is better to immediately choose a stove with a water tank, since in this case you will be able to simultaneously heat water for various needs.

DIY brick sauna stoves: assembly features

The quality of the stove directly depends on the material used. To install it, it is recommended not to skimp on bricks, but to choose high-quality fireproof material that will not crack after a year of use.

To make a stove, you will also need clay, which is easy to find in natural conditions, and can also be purchased along with bricks.

Step 1. Construction of the foundation

The brick oven is quite heavy, so it is necessary to make a foundation for it. It should be 5-10 cm larger than the size of the oven on each side.

For the foundation, it is necessary to prepare a pit more than 50 cm deep, fill it with sand (10 cm layer), pour water and fill it with crushed stone, broken bricks and stones. Next, pour concrete and fill it again with a mixture of stones and crushed stone.

When building a foundation, you may also need to make formwork. At ground level you need to lay a layer of waterproofing, and then lay a brick foundation to the floor level.

Step 2. Assembling the oven

To install a sauna stove, you need to prepare a solution by mixing clay, sand and water. To decide how to assemble the stove, you need to prepare the order of the masonry. The first two rows are usually made solid - they serve as the basis of the structure, then assembly is carried out according to a pre-prepared scheme.

Below is the order of brick sauna stoves:

After laying each row, you need to check how evenly it is laid. Any deviation is unacceptable.

Step 3. Installation of the chimney

The size of the chimney must correspond to the size of the stove itself. When installing the stove, you need to ensure that it rises 0.5 m or more above the roof.

The pipe passage must be insulated with heat-insulating materials (for example, basalt wool).

Making a brick oven with your own hands is quite difficult. If you have experience in laying bricks and are confident in your abilities, then prepare the order of the sauna stove and feel free to get to work. But if you have doubts, it is better to contact an experienced stove maker (at least for advice). It is quite difficult to fix an already assembled stove; it often takes more effort than laying a stove from scratch.

Cast iron stoves for baths: types and properties